On Jan. 15, 1981, my daddy trundled my sister and me onto an Amtrak train from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. Crowded in with about 100,000 other cold and determined people, we cast our eyes toward a stage we could barely see. But we could sure hear it.

“Happy Birthday to ya! Happy Birthday to ya! Ha-ppy bir-erth-day!” we all sang along with artist and activist Stevie Wonder, out into the crowd and up into the air where Martin Luther King Jr., the man we were celebrating, might hear.

That gathering, powered by that song, eventually led to King’s birthday being declared a national holiday to be celebrated on the third Monday of each January. This year, that observation falls on Jan. 20, coinciding with the presidential inauguration. Many people find irony in the commemoration of a civil rights icon happening on the exact date of the start of the second administration of a president whose first White House stay featured the rollback of many civil and human rights policies. And this time, there’s the fear of mass deportations and the rescinding of trans, LGBTQ and reproductive rights and protections.

A lot of folks nervous about what this means for our American future are choosing to get out of town today, take a long walk or drink the day away. As for me, I’m going to cope the way I always do — by harnessing art to heal, transcend darkness and shine some vivid light forward, or maybe just distract from an unpleasant situation.

In the spirit of Dr. King (and of Stevie), I offer these selections — some serious, some silly — of audible, watchable history and hope. You might call them woke, but if that means depictions of people living their lives in their own identities like everybody else, then I’m cool with that. After all, the point of fighting for rights is that you get to just, you know, be.

Songs

“A Change Is Gonna Come,” Sam Cooke: Released in 1964, this masterpiece became a civil rights anthem that depicted the realities of racism, the brutality of Jim Crow and a hope that we are “able to carry on.” It’s been a long time coming, Cooke sings. Some of the changes on the horizon aren’t good. But as I sing along, I want to believe they can be again.

“Fight The Power,” Public Enemy: This track is as bristling, explosive and galvanizing today as it was when it was released in 1989. Some fights are never over.

“Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” Lil Nas X: The “Old Town Road” artist wrote this provocative ode to a man he fell in love with before coming out. The song (and its wacky video) embrace roaring out of closets and masks, loudly embracing who you are and love. May we all have the right to be boldly and weirdly ourselves.

“Don’t Dream It’s Over,” Crowded House: This is my all-time favorite anthem about the realities of the forces that, as Neil Finn sings, come to put a wall between us — and how they won’t win. Even when it’s hard, I have to believe that.

Movies

“Selma”: Ava DuVernay’s depiction of King’s harrowing 1965 march from Selma to Birmingham in Alabama is sometimes hard to watch in its unflinching depiction of the violence and brutality it took to secure basic human rights for African Americans. This led to advances for so many other groups. I thought we’d be moving forward still, and not back. But don’t forget where we’ve been.

“Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse”: On the surface, it’s a fun animated exploration into how different men, women and pigs can have Spidey powers in different dimensions. But in a deeper sense, it’s a reminder that anyone can be a superhero, even an Afro-Latino kid from New York.

“Good Grief”: Following a widower and his friends navigating the loss of his husband and rediscovering the ability to be happy after heartbreak, “Good Grief” is a tragic love story about a married couple who lost their way. We’ve seen these before. This time, it’s about two men, and the story doesn’t preach to normalize that. It just expects viewers to take it at face value, and then submit to crying a lot.

TV

“Interior Chinatown”: This Hulu show is a bombastic, wildly imaginative and very, very funny story about a minor character in a clichéd cop show yearning to be the main focus. I like it because it’s deeply entrenched in Chinese American culture in a way not often seen on American TV, and because it pokes fun at the idea of stereotypes and dumb cop shows.

“Will Trent”: Taken from Karin Slaughter’s book series, what looks like an ordinary procedural about a talented Atlanta police detective touches on foster care, disability, childhood trauma and how it’s never too late to discover your culture, one awkward step at a time. Also: It features a tiny dog wearing dresses.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” (MTV): Sometimes the most effective resistance is loud, wears wigs and sequins, and defiantly death-drops in mountain-high heels.